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I think the days of trying to control nature in natural areas are waning. At least efforts seem to be focused on good works, such as controlling or removing invasive, non-native plants and animals, and not interfering with the ways of native animals.

How exactly is that tree nibbled to almost nothing still standing? It's gravity defying magic!

People complaining about beaver damage is a bit of a laugh. It isn't beavers wrecking the planet after all...

I grew up with beavers and now I have them in my backyard. Latest image of the pond and lodge they built on the little creek out back is here: http://www.remarc.com/craig/images/beaver_pond_benchx1200.jpg

It's usually best to wire the trees before they're girdled, and to leave space for the tree to grow without being constrained by the wire mesh.

I did not realize beavers had orange teeth like our horrid nutria - a transplant here in Louisiana. They are a major cause of soil erosion, having 5 litters a year. They look like giant rodents. Their fur, when shaved, looks like beaver, so I suppose the resemblance makes sense. It is the one fur no one should feel guilty wearing.

There's a recently restored stream/drainage area in North Seattle that had a few beavers move in. They built a lodge and felled some pretty impressive trees before the city put mesh up to protect the rest. Still, the beavers are a huge neighborhood attraction and have drawn many people to the stream who may not otherwise have come.

Feed the Beavers. Save the better Trees.

No need to feed those beavers. They manage very well on their own. My goal in 'fencing' the Wye oak was not just to protect the tree; I sometimes worry that park visitors will demand that the beaver family, there are at least 3, be moved out b/c they have felled so many trees. So protecting the Wye was a defensive move on my part. I'm their fan, having watched them build that lodge over the past 15 months or so. I occasionally visit the pond very late at night, midnight or so, to see what they're up to. One of them usually notes my intrusion by swimming directly toward me and smacking the water with his or her big leathery tail. Maybe I'm entering my second childhood, but I get a thrill every time I hear The Slap.

Susan's friend Pam

In our rural area beavers pick some unhandy spots for their homes. They dam up culverts and the roads flood. So they are trapped and relocated or trapped and .....

"...trapped and..."
I discovered this sad truth doing my online research about my neighborhood beaver family. I try not to be too romantic about these creatures, just as I try not to be too romantic about the deer whose property I live on. Some make it and some don't. And if my neighborhood guys caused my basement to flood, or my gardens to wash away, I would be the first one to ask some (human) authority to relocate them. And then I would hope for the best on the relocation. Just as I hope for the best when the trucks haul away my recycling each week. I try to have faith that my bottles end up being recycled but I'm never completely sure.

Here, we have a beaver pond. If it is discovered by the authorities, and it may not be, because it is on land that has been for sale for ages, they will trap and move the beavers upstream. We saw this happen last year. I was thinking about climbing the fence and photographing the phenom for my blog. I may still. Nice to know the park people care.

Pam, I was referring to Susan's comments about the park authorities not your actions to save that lovely tree (sorry if it read otherwise). Managing the right balancing act between man and critter is not easy.

The beavers in our area do quite a bit of "partial bark removal" as in the photo above. I'm always amazed at how many of the trees recover. Some don't though - I think maybe the beavers are just very patient! They can wait til the tree dies and falls on its own.

There's been a sort of beaver population explosion lately... due to beaver pelts not being worth much money any more. It's causing a corresponding increase in the river otter population as well.

Do be careful not to let beaver dams on your property flood your neighbors' property... there was a court case here in Alabama where the defendant had to pay $30,000 in damages when this happened.

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